Since CBS cancelled "Joan of Arcadia," Amber Tamblyn has been trying her hand at poetry.

"People hear that word and they cringe," the actress told AP Radio. "They just assume that you're going to write something about daffodils or dancing in the sunlight."

Tamblyn said the poems in her new book, "Free Stallion," are different than the ones you had to read in school.

"It's like slam poetry, which is intense. It's got a certain cadence to it," she said. "For some reason, with slam poetry, you can relate more to the audience. You're talking to an audience, but you're also performing a piece."

For Tamblyn, reading her poetry aloud is more personal than acting in front of a camera.

"It's really nerve-wracking because ... acting is only 50 percent yours," she said. "You're taking someone else's material and creating something new out of it. When you write poetry, that's all you."